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handcrafted by artisansSat, 10 Dec 2016 02:48:53 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.5A Very Practical Gift Guidehttp://www.innyvinny.com/2016/12/09/a-very-practical-gift-guide/
http://www.innyvinny.com/2016/12/09/a-very-practical-gift-guide/#respondFri, 09 Dec 2016 13:00:41 +0000http://www.innyvinny.com/?p=12469In keeping with the previous post, I thought I’d put together a gift guide for the person who likes to give practical things. Me? I love giving people things, but I hate buying people things; mostly because I like to buy things people will actually use but end up not being the most “present-worthy” or “appropriate for the department gift exchange.” Tuh!

I decided that instead of working against my urge to get people what they’ll actually use, this year I plan to really lean into it – gift exchange propriety be damned.

For the best friend you’re “in sync” with:

photo from Thinx

One to a few pairs of Thinx because they’re awesome (use this link for $10 off your first order!). If you’ve had the conversation about menstrual cups, toss one into the package too. My favorite is the MeLuna.

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For your overachieving sister:

A membership to the Working Women’s Club or its local equivalent wherever she lives. If she ends up doing something really cool as a result, you can officially take credit for it afterward.

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For your coworkers that you like, but are reticent to give overly “nice” gifts to because that might get weird and you’ll have to become friends, but, like, oddly distant friends who have easy conversations and might go out to drinks, but it feels really awkward when you do because you don’t know how real the friendship is:

photo from Glossier

Glossier flavored balm dotcom 4 pack. Because you can cover four people with one gift and they can talk to each other about how amazing each of the different flavors are, leaving you room to duck out of the back entrance just before happy hour. New to Glossier? Use this link for 20% off your first order. *glitter toss*

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For the friend you go out with that loves to watch makeup tutorials on YouTube:

While you’re on the Glossier site, grab some Haloscope and Boy Brow for this friend. They’re the fastest and easiest ways to look like you actually did something even if you still don’t understand contouring or where the hell “the crease” is, or if your eyebrows are uneven when you try to get them “on fleek” (is this even still a thing? I used to call them “baddie brows” but that didn’t catch on). Tell her she’s going to look like a glazed doughnut. She’ll know what you mean.

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For a male best friend / a male relative / man you’re currently with:

A pack of underwear. If he plays sports, a pair of these would be even better. They always need underwear because everything they have is somewhere between ratty and close to disintegrating. You can add a pair of fun socks to lessen his shock that you intuitively knew about the state of his underwear drawer.

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For your relative with anxiety and/or ASMR:

photo from Bodhisattva

A Tibetan singing bowl – just trust me on this. If you don’t think it will go over well, send this instead with a note saying that “really cool things will happen if you sit down in a comfortable spot, close your eyes, and listen to this.” Chances are they’ll mellow out, have those weird brain tingles, or fall asleep. No bad options there.

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For the kid who lives down the hall/street and is always petting your dog too hard:

A PEZ dispenser shaped like whatever thing the youth find interesting, or, if older, a fidget toy. It’s the productive way to keep idle hands off your pet and, potentially, your hands off of the kid.

Last month was binge season. I like to think I didn’t do too much damage, but I did and I felt good doing it. I owe those good feelings to my budgeting software and relative discipline while using it in preparation for this season; it’s important to know these things about oneself.

The blazer and boots have been knocking around my head since 2013. Through luck, timing, and the powers of Poshmark and a chance web search that led me to the last single stockist of the last pair of what would be my size in these boots, they knock no more. Special thanks to the Cyber Monday deal that netted an extra 25% off the price. Glossier’s Boy Brow is about as important as soap to me and the bodysuit is one of those things I have to try out just to say that I tried it. My hope is that it will make a decent layering piece now and a summer option when I tire of wearing the same three t-shirts.

]]>http://www.innyvinny.com/2016/12/08/seasons-greetings/feed/0Honestly, Trulyhttp://www.innyvinny.com/2016/12/05/12465/
http://www.innyvinny.com/2016/12/05/12465/#respondTue, 06 Dec 2016 06:32:52 +0000http://www.innyvinny.com/?p=12465There is a point when you admit that buying the thing won’t make anything better. You know you shouldn’t for several reasons involving budgets and responsibility and the upcoming holiday season. You know it won’t resolve the issues underlying the knot in your stomach or the air of sadness that wafts around you from day to day.

When you reach that point, and all illusions are cast by the wayside, you can face yourself honestly and really figure out what you stand for and what is really important in your life.

It me, out past midnight, sober, and with a half dead left foot. The holiday party was last Tuesday and I still don’t have full feeling in the middle three toes (not sure if I need to see a doctor about this). I had a different outfit planned, but, being the sometimes reactionary person that I am, after a friend commented that I dress like a man, I bought a new outfit that landed somewhere between feminine and thotty. I figured I could leave my comfort zone for one night.

It’s been coming up in my journal entries and lists over and over and over. Simplify. Pare down. Essentials. Remove. It’s trendy, but there are reasons for trends. Some of mine in relation to everything:

I can’t be bothered

I have yet to wake up during that mysterious, magical time known as “early in the morning”

I don’t have the space to keep a lot of different (or multiples of) things

In my experience, things go better and smoother when there aren’t a lot of things or moving parts to consider. Thinking I need to apply this in several areas of my life. Including this one.

Summer is ending and I’m sad. The PNW climate with its months of overcast grey sky and rain does bad things to my emotional well-being.

Thankfully, clothes seem to ‘come alive’ in fall and I am looking forward to that. Despite the impending crap weather, I’m starting to love pulling things out of storage and figuring out how I’m going to dress DOWN for the new season. I mean, I still long for the days when I didn’t have to, but…here we are. ( .___.)

I’m going to be more practical in my preparations this year because I want to do better at taking care of what I own. I’ve been reading How To Get Dressedand it’s reaffirmed the importance of doing that. So, instead of putting up pictures of all the pretty things I want to trade hours of my life for, here’s my loose plan over the next couple of months:

// Get cedar shoe trees

Why? Because although I love black ankle boots and brogues, I don’t want to have to keep buying them in 3 year intervals. Cedar shoe trees keep creasing down, absorb moisture, and extend a leather shoe’s life significantly. Or so I’ve read.

// Clean and waterproof all leather goods

This stuff either was expensive or will be if I need to replace it. Besides, it rains a lot in Portland and I’d rather not ruin my good clothes.

// Prep the woolens

Meaning clean them with Eucalan and take a sweater shaver to them to remove the pills. No one likes a pilly sweater.

// Reassess the closet contents

Ahhh yes, the fun part. Pull out everything, judge it harshly. Maybe put together another Project 333 to keep me honest over the next few months. Sell what I don’t use or can’t make work and consider if I need to add anything else.

// Mend and tailor anything that needs mending or tailoring

Because it’s the responsible thing to do.

// Make a list of potential things to add

More fun. This year, it’s a pair of Everlane oxfords (is anyone surprised? No? Me neither), some high waist cropped skinny blue jeans with frayed ankles (specificity is necessary!), a black, slim fit turtleneck and/or this ribbed t-shirt bodysuit from American Apparel (I tried it on one day and was impressed at how insanely soft it is). Do people wear these things with underwear? Serious question. I feel like you have to because of the snaps. No? Someone tell me.

Since I’m posting this late, I think it’s fair to say I’ve done most of this. I haven’t committed to getting shoe trees because I’ve been making do with the tissue paper that the shoes came with. Also, I haven’t bought anything. QUELLE SURPRISE!

YAY Adulthood!

ETA: I bought a blazer…it seemed like the right decision at the time. Meh.

Balenciaga Resort ’17

I didn’t really get the whole normcore thing and dad hats are more function than form for yours truly, but this? This speaks to me. The extremely pared back makeup, the “f it, just grab the damn hat if you can’t find sunscreen and no one cares if you’re matching anyway” vibe, bags that could be holding bowling balls, cocaine bricks or body parts, the not extremely precious even though you know they cost the thousands of doll-hairs garments; I’m here for ALL of it.

Overdoing it last Friday because the weather is still semi-cooperating. Nothing new to see here clothing-wise, but I don’t think you come here for the latest and greatest and newness in the fashion. Bless you all, because I just can’t do it.

Why new guidelines? Because saving money has become more important than buying clothes. They’re fun to look at, try on, and play with, but ultimately, they aren’t improving my life in any tangible way.

I’m starting to wonder why I thought they ever would.

After reading this article and starting the book The More of Less, I’m curious as to why having all these clothes became so important in the first place. When did it become worth all of the pollution, destruction, exploitation, and death to look good for people that I don’t know?

It seems like the trend is to consider the question of worth in regard to makeup, but I feel like it should be extended to fashion, tech gadgets that need to be upgraded every year, and every other consumer good we’ve been made to feel we need to buy in order to be…what exactly? A modern person? Up on the latest? Living our best lives?

Are we really?

I’m convinced that we aren’t. I’m not sure we know what we actually want out of our lives and how all of this stuff fits in. I know I don’t. What’s certain is that we are making a few people incredibly rich and those incredibly rich few people aren’t doing a whole lot with that wealth to better the lives of the people on the lowest rungs of the supply chain. Meanwhile, we all continue to work jobs to pay bills that ensure this stuff is housed and cared for or paid for (with interest!) after we’ve already gotten bored with it.

What could that money be doing instead of sitting unused in the closet, boxed up for Goodwill, paying back creditors, or at the bottom of some junk drawer? I wonder.

Hoggie turned five and is starting kindergarten this week. It wasn’t really sinking in so I thought if I wrote it on the internet, it would become more real. And it did. I feel like I should be more freaked out than I am and I haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to cry on his first day of school. Currently, I’m leaning toward not. If I do end up crying, it’ll be the day I take him to his first soccer practice because that is the day I turn a corner toward “suburban” and that is a descriptive that I just cannot tolerate at this phase in my life.

I’ve been playing softball with my coworkers and it’s awesome. I got hit in the face with the ball last week and, while that wasn’t very awesome, it made me realize something about frustration and its impact on performance.

After doing battle with hyperpigmentaton for the majority of my life (twenty years worth…UGH), my skin is clearing up noticeably. I’m crediting a combination of time, consistency, black soap, Chaotic scrub from Bee Lux (which isn’t on the site anymore, but you could mix some brown sugar, turmeric, lemon essential oil and honey to the same effect), and Belle Butters mango moisture butter for face. Also, this stuff is the best acne/blemish treatment I’ve tried.

It’s getting cold and that means fall is coming and that means I’m going to mourn the loss of daily heat and sunshine but that also means I get to pull out warm clothes and feel like I have a whole new wardrobe. Hopefully this keeps me from shopping. Hopefully. Hope for me? Post forthcoming.

Considering my list of unresolved post ideas, the one that most resonates with me is having “champagne taste and a beer budget,” or rather, a mutual want for both nice clothes and a well-padded bank account. I like to think I’ve cultivated decent taste in clothing (read: a certain degree of label-whoredom) over the years. I’ve definitely cultivated an aversion to credit card debt that may be even stronger. In the land of blogs – and I mean those that aren’t routinely traded clothing by brands for publicity – these two often represent opposite ends of the spectrum. For me? Myself? Personally? It’s a challenge to find pieces that I like without paying retail price for them.

Here’s the part where I’m supposed to say “AND YOU CAN TOO! Keep scrolling to learn how!”

THE ROW sunglasses

I know we all love “listicles” and quick “how-to’s” (don’t worry, it’s coming), so I want to state up-front that all of this depends on a combination of luck, actively hunting, and good timing. Also, as anyone who has read this blog for any period of time knows, you may (read: will probably) have to wait a good long while for what you want to appear. As long as your expectations are kept in check, you too can indulge your perceived need for the finer things and actively fund a savings account. Keep scrolling to learn how!

1 // Make peace with the fact that your personal style will not always reflect what’s trendy.

This is the first and most important thing. Why? Because if you don’t have a clearly defined sense of how you like to look, you will be throwing away money. Additionally, if you are one who likes to try all of the new things every season because you don’t have a clearly defined sense of how you like to look, you will be throwing away money. DON’T THROW AWAY MONEY. A better use of your time is to go through some exercises at Into Mind and figure out your look.

Mine? I like to call it “tomboy that finally grew up and likes good shoes.”

If you feel you just HAVE to spend money on figuring this all out, I suggest buying the Stylebook app. It’s great for helping to spot trends and patterns in what you wear and forces you to come to terms with everything you own. It’s my third most used app after Pokemon Go and Snapchat.

2 // Embrace secondhand garments

Although the stigma around this seems to have lessened in the last few years, if you’re trying to buy designer clothes on the cheap, you’ll have to eliminate if from your mind completely. In my experience, most people sell things they barely have worn (if they’ve worn them at all) trying to recoup money to assuage their buyer’s remorse. Your mission is to help them with that process. See? You’re not taking advantage of someone so much as helping to heal them. And that’s a beautiful thing.

Seriously though, if it’s in good condition and you have access to a washing machine, who cares if you aren’t the first owner? Certainly not you. And unless you go telling the world that you’re wearing a whole lot of used goods, no one is going to care or judge you for it. And if they do? Tell them to worry about their eyebrows before worrying about you. Works like a charm.

It’s probably the largest and most popular option (consider that 3 of the 5 things I’m wearing came from there), but it isn’t the only one. Others I’ve had luck on are the apps Depop (where I got the shoes) and Poshmark (where I got the sunglasses. If you sign up with code HVSQU we both get $5). There’s also Vestitaire Collective and The Real Real. If you’re more of an “I have to try this on first” kind of person, find your local resale shop (Buffalo Exchange, Crossroads, Wasteland, random consignment store) and make friends with the workers there. Then, of course, there is the trusty ol’ Goodwill or Salvation Army. Much rarer to find things in these places, but it does happen! I found a Chanel blouse in a St. Vincent de Paul for $5 once. I promptly sold it on eBay because WTF am I going to do with a blouse?

This is another important one. If you have some working knowledge of how garments are constructed and how to fix them, you’ll be able to better suss out when something is salvageable (and when you can haggle a price further down with someone who probably doesn’t). Case in point, I recently bought a pair of Helmut Lang leather leggings (similar to these) from a girl at a yard sale. They were in great condition, but she’d marked them down to $25 because there was a hole in the leg. If you heard “hole” and “leather” and automatically thought “I’ll pass,” I don’t blame you. However, that hole happened to be a break in the stitching on an inner seam. I repaired them in under five minutes. Soooooooo, yeah. Get to youtube, check out a library book or visit the Colette blog. A little know-how will pay off tremendously.

5 // Budget

It’s old advice. It’s tired advice. But it’s sound advice that will keep you out of debt if you stick to it. Set aside some money every paycheck for clothes if you like to buy clothes. It’s simple and you can buy things nearly guilt-free once you properly acknowledge that buying things is important for you. And yes, you can do that. Really. It’s fine. We all have things on which we like to spend money, so we should well prepare ourselves to do so without having to rely on available credit to do it.

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So that’s my take. I’m sure none of it was new or revolutionary, but I liked writing it and here we are.

Oh! And if you’re like me and curious about how much this particular outfit cost since I’m yelling “DESIGNER FOR CHEAP,” I saved about $1,553 overall based on what I remember of the original retail prices (approximately $1,930 sans tax). All these individual pieces were bought over the course of a couple years.

Thank you for reading.

]]>http://www.innyvinny.com/2016/08/25/how-to-get-expensive-clothes-for-cheap-an-autobiography/feed/2Notes on a Post-It 004http://www.innyvinny.com/2016/08/17/notes-on-a-post-it-004/
http://www.innyvinny.com/2016/08/17/notes-on-a-post-it-004/#commentsThu, 18 Aug 2016 01:48:43 +0000http://www.innyvinny.com/?p=12330It is said that writing is like a muscle – the more you work it, the better it becomes. Right now, around this 8th anniversary of having a URL that allows me to type-scream into the ether, that muscle has atrophied quite a bit.

I have a folder full of drafts that are going absolutely nowhere and a few lists of inchoate ideas. As much as I try to get back on the wagon and just write, it feels too forced and difficult. I’m not sure if this means I should push through it or step back, or, with the general and localized craziness of life bearing down on all sides, if I should ‘clear the decks’ a bit. A chaotic mind is no place for anything of coherence or much substance to be born…then again, I’m not saving the world with anything here so I may be overthinking.

Below are some of those ideas I mentioned earlier. One day I’ll get to them. Maybe.

Kitten Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeels. She walked in the club like nobody’s business…

I don’t understand why kitten heels and late 80’s pumps are a thing again

When did capsule wardrobes become better vehicles at selling things than regular blogging?

Champagne tastes and beer budgets aren’t mutually exclusive (or, can I make blogging about clothes and personal finance a thing? Is that even a thing?)

What does one do when (the perceptions of one’s) life and wardrobe don’t quite match? Alternate title: I’m a mom and I still wear crop tops with shorts…problem?

How to reconcile Buddhist principles with clothes shopping

I’m sorry I abandoned you, P333. Let’s be friends forever? So I can remember that I’m not supposed to be shopping? Especially as a coping mechanism? Ok cool.

Something old, something new, something “thrifted,” and… selfie because I can’t be bothered with proper outfit documentation. Love me anyway? What I lack in photography I make up with meaningless banter about clothes!

For instance, all three of the above “somethings” could apply to these shoes. Patience, usually the most effective weapon against complete irresponsibility, paid off once again when I found these lovely triple strap stunners for $40 – down from their original retail at $250 some seasons ago.

*insert squee*

Now, the story here usually goes that I was looking for a particular thing for forever, stalking it for months/years and then I finally find it. Not so this time. I learned of these perusing the blog Harper & Harley a few weeks ago and they stuck in my craw; beautiful lines, nice heel, probably really painful to actually wear. I was intrigued. As always, intrigue soon led to fixation, so I poked around the internet until I found them on eBay (there are a few more still listed if anyone else is interested). Since I’m trying to make better decisions and not let impulsiveness rule me, I let them sit for a couple of weeks while debating the merits of ownership. Below, a sampling of my inner monologue:

“These are going to look amazing with jeans. And a big sweater on top? Or a t-shirt? Those faux Jesse Kamm sailor pants I made from those pants from Buffalo Exchange? ALL OF THE THINGS.”

“You see how thin those straps are? BRUH. SAUSAGE. TOES.”

“Her feet don’t look that pained.”

“She’s sitting in nearly all the photos where she has on these shoes.”

“But…”

“Hmm…”

“They’re $40.”

“I mean….you could just get them and if they hurt, resell them.”

“Yes. Yes I could.”

“And you have been wearing the same pair of “event shoes” since like…2012.”

“True.”

“F- it. Just buy the shoes.”

I mean, it isn’t so much a conversation as a string of thoughts that consider separate arguments, but never mind all that.

The point is I copped them and they don’t hurt as much as anticipated. And they do look amazing with jeans and a big sweater. And it’s always worth waiting a few weeks, months, or years to buy something because you’ll usually be able to find it at a reasonable price and you’ll be able to better gauge whether or not something is an impulse buy or something you truly want to have. A little distance can do wonders for your wallet and general clutter levels.